Evening Brief: Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Tonight’s Evening Brief is brought to you by the Humanitarian Coalition, now 7 Canadian aid agencies working together to save more lives during international humanitarian disasters.
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The Lead:

It’s a break week on the Hill — a good time to head west and kick off the byelection season. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and interim Conservative Leader Rona Ambrose were both in Calgary today, rallying the troops. Although the two Calgary ridings that are up for grabs won’t cause a significant shift in the House, they do carry strong symbolic significance. That story from CBC News.

Bill Morneau headed south to Washington to meet with his counterpart, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, for a getting-to-know-you session. Turns out the finance minister was his first foreign visitor.

In Canada:

Close to one-fifth of Conservative party members are now undecided about their first choice in the Tory leadership race, according to the latest iPolitics CPC Leadership Tracker, powered by Mainstreet Research. At the same time, Kevin O’Leary continues to lead and Kellie Leitch’s campaign has seen a significant drop in support. BJ Siekierski has the details.

Moving on to Newmarket, where RCMP Sgt. Peter Merrifield, the plaintiff in a high-profile case accusing RCMP brass of harassment, was awarded $100,000 in damages and $41,000 for lost income by the Ontario Superior Court. In an announcement released today, Justice Mary Vallee wrote that the defendants — the Attorney General, Insp. James Jagoe, and Superintendent Marc Proulx — had intentionally inflicted mental suffering on Merrifield but noted he did not prove several other elements of his case — specifically, that the defendants had abused a public office or that his Charter rights were breached by the defendants’ actions. Amanda Connolly reports.

Just as Progressive Conservatives once needed to be convinced free trade was best for Canada, Conservatives now need to be convinced of the need for a revenue-neutral carbon tax, Michael Chong argued in the fourth official leadership debate in Edmonton Tuesday evening. Siekierski has that story as well.

While the other Conservative leadership candidates took to the debate stage in Edmonton Tuesday night, Kevin O’Leary held a ‘fireside chat’ at a hotel across the street. It was moderated by former cabinet minister Tim Uppal, who began by asking O’Leary why they were there and not at the official leadership debate. “It’s not a debate,” O’Leary said. “It’s a series of ten-second sound bites and the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and anticipating a different outcome. Janice Dickson has more.

Three Ontario NDP MPPs are ready to endorse federal leadership candidates ahead of the first debate this month, but none have said they would support their deputy leader Jagmeet Singh if he decides to enter the race. There are no hard feelings from Singh, though. Ainslie Cruickshank reports from Queen’s Park.

The Bank of Canada is holding its trendsetting interest rate at 0.5 per cent — but it’s keeping a watchful eye on “significant uncertainties” that it warns could alter the economy’s improving trajectory. That story from CP as well. That was enough to send the loonie on a dive.

Transport Minister Marc Garneau is proposing the creation of a tough national standard to penalize distracted drivers using their cellphones on the road. He said earlier today that having consistent national rules with stiffer fines and demerit points could address the growing number of incidents.

Former Ontario Tory political operative Alex Chreston has registered to lobby for a wide swath of companies, including the social media giant Facebook and the ride-sharing company Lyft. Chreston, who just joined Crestview Strategy this month, was an adviser for Toronto Mayor John Tory and is a provincial PC Party insider. He worked for former PC leader Tim Hudak, on Christine Elliott’s leadership campaign and in former Tory MPP Frank Klees’ office. Kyle Duggan has the details.

The first criterion for anyone being considered for a position in the Trump administration seems to be where they fall on the wealth ladder. To that end, Kelly Knight Craft could very well be a contender to become ambassador to Canada. She’s a wealthy Republican fundraiser and campaign supporter of President Donald Trump — and Bloomberg News is reporting she’s in line to fill the post. The Star has that story.

(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Three of Trump’s top foreign policy advisers advocated for Iraq to be removed from the Trump administration’s list of banned countries in a new executive order, citing diplomatic reasons. Sources say Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Secretary of Defense James Mattis and national security adviser H.R. McMaster made the request. One of the main reasons is Iraq’s role in fighting ISIS. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly also supported the move, but it remains unclear whether the White House has made a final decision. That story from CNN.

Across the pond, Norway did not violate the human rights of mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik by isolating him in jail, an appeals court ruled Wednesday, overturning a lower court ruling from last year. That story from AP.

And in France, centre-right presidential candidate Francois Fillon says a judge is placing him under investigation over a fake job scandal — but has vowed to continue his election campaign. For weeks, Mr. Fillon has fought allegations that his wife was paid for years for work she did not do. Mr. Fillon called the investigation “a political assassination.” The BBC reports.

Noteworthy:

Trump’s use of SEAL’s wife highlights key ingredients of U.S. war propaganda (The Intercept)
Is Oprah thinking about running for president? (MediaITE)
‘Tipping point’: Can 10 million wind turbines save the Arctic? (CTV)
What ISIS Fighters Think of Trump (Politico)